Southern California -- this just in

UC regents approve 8% tuition increase for fall 2011

November 18, 2010 | 11:53
am

UC undergraduates will be paying an additional 8%, or $822 more, for their education next year as a result of a regents’ vote Thursday.

The full board of UC regents approved the hike in a 15-5 vote despite the pleas of student leaders and some board members. Among the most vocal opponents at the San Francisco meeting was Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado, a regent by virtue of his office, who said he wanted UC administrators to find more efficiencies throughout the 10-campus system before adding to the burdens of students and their families.

The opponents acknowledged that expanded financial aid will shield low-income students from the increase and that families with incomes of up to $120,000 will have a one-year reprieve. But they said that middle-income families still face a tough time financing a UC education.

“Those are the ones who are silently crying. They are not at the microphone,” DeFreece said. “They are at work trying to figure out how they are going to pay for it all.”

Students seemed resigned to the final vote and only about 15 were present in the UC San Francisco meeting room by the time the debate was over. On Wednesday, an estimated 300 students and union activists had held a raucous rally outside that led to 13 arrests.

In other action, the regents voted to change the name of the charges student pay from “fees” to “tuition,” to recognize their steep increase over recent years.